This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Technology developed in support of the aims of the NCRR Biomedical Glycomics grant is applicable to many different systems. The non-biased methods for glycan characterization are sufficiently sensitive to allow detection of minor glycans from small amount of tissue. As a challenge to these methods, we have undertaken the detection of sialylated glycan processing intermediates in wild-type and mutant strains of Drosophila melanogaster, an organism that produces very small amounts of sialylated glycans. The Panin lab has amassed mutants in enzymes necessary for the production, transport, and utilization of CMP-sialic acid, as well as in enzymes that make glycan structures that are acceptors for the Drosophila sialyltransferase. The Tiemeyer lab has analyzed glycan profiles for mutant tissues provided by the Panin lab.